California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA

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Most California incentive programs meant to reduce energy use have the opposite effect

UCLA’s Stephanie Pincetl, another co-author, said part of the problem may be due to the Jevons paradox, a phenomenon that occurs when a technological advance or government policy improves the efficiency of how a resource is used but leads to an increase in consumption as a direct result of that efficiency gain. “People think they can increase consumption without increasing their bills, so they use more,” said Pincetl, who is director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA.

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Dr. Pincetl on KCET: How L.A.’s Energy Transition Could Shake up the Southwest

The fuel isn’t the only thing that will change at the plant. “We know that the coal-fired power plant provides lots of jobs where it is for local residents,” says Stephanie Pincetl, director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities and professor-in-residence at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. “It also pollutes the air. It also uses water, all these issues. A transition to natural gas will continue to generate a fair amount of employment. When you move to renewables, to solar, it doesn’t have that kind of employment benefit. So part of the dilemma for the just transition is the jobs dilemma.”

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How to farm in a dry world — Dr. Pincetl for the Los Angeles Times

For California agriculture to survive, we will need nothing short of a revolutionary re-envisioning of the future. The alternative is extinction. Stephanie Pincetl is a professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and founding director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA. This article was produced in partnership with Zócalo Public Square.

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